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2.2 PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT AND LEARNINGIN THE FAMILYParental engagement inchildren’s learningParental engagement in children’s learninghas been the subject of sustained internationalresearch for many years. Here, the core findingsfrom some of the key studies are summarised 3 .RESEARCH AND POLICY REVIEW2.2 PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT AND LEARNING IN THE FAMILY2Research consistently shows parentalengagement in children’s learning at home is asignificant factor in children’s achievement atschool. Parents’ engagement with what childrenare learning at school both requires and is anexpression of a relationship between home andschool, and while it is important to understandthat parental engagement and home-schoolrelationships are not synonyms for one another,it is a key issue in home-school relationships.This section gives an overview of anddiscusses some of the key issues pertainingto parental engagement._ Parental involvement at home has asignificant positive impact on children’sachievement and is a more significant factorin predicting children’s achievement thansocial class or school factors._ Increasing parental engagement – particularlyfor parents the school finds ‘hard to reach’ –is associated with improved attendance andbehaviour as well as achievement._ Parents’ engagement with children’s learningat home occurs when parents show aninterest in their children’s education withinthe parent-child relationship, talk aboutlearning with their children, model higheducational aspirations and successful socialand emotional approaches and demonstratetheir educational values to children. This mayaffect their achievement because children’smotivation, self-esteem, educationalaspirations and perception of themselves assuccessful learners are influenced by thisengagement from their parents in the home._ Parental involvement with school activitieshas little impact on children’s achievementwhere it is not directly connected tolearning activities._ Schools that are successful in supportingparents’ engagement with children’s learningconsistently demonstrate and reinforce anapproach that ‘parents matter’, developing atwo-way relationship with parents based onmutual trust, respect and a commitment toimproving learning outcomes.143. These points are largely drawn from the influential analyses and studies by Desforges, C with Abouchaar, A (2003). The Impact ofParental Involvement, Parental Support and Family Education on Pupil Achievements and Adjustment: A Literature Review. DfES.(Research report no. 433), Harris, A and Goodall, J (2008). Do parents know they matter? Engaging all parents in learning. EducationalResearch, 50,3: 277-289 and Harris, A and Goodall, J (2009). Do Parents Know They Matter? Raising Achievement Through ParentalEngagement. London: Network Continuum Education. For specific discussion of the use of technology in parental engagement see thefollowing: Somekh, B, Lewin, C and Mavers, D (2002). Using ICT to Enhance Home School Links: an Evaluation of Current practice inEngland. DfES/Becta. Available from: partners.becta.org.uk/upload-dir/downloads/page_documents/research/ngflseries_hsl1.pdf,Grant, L (2008). Learning in Families: A review of research evidence and the current landscape of Learning in Families with digitaltechnologies. Bristol: Futurelab. Available at: www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/project_reports/becta/Learning_in_Families_educators_report.pdf, and Hollingworth, S, Allen, K, Kuyok, AK, Mansaray, A and Page, A (2009). An exploration of parents’engagement with their children’s learning involving technologies and the impact of this in their family learning experiences. Becta.Available from: partners.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=rh&catcode=_re_mr_02&rid=17152
Parents helping children learnParental involvement in school activities, suchas on the PTA or volunteering in school trips isdistinguished from engagement with children’slearning at home, with the latter being a strongpredictive factor for children’s achievement whilethe former confers few benefits for the child 4 .However, this distinction should not be overemphasised:involvement with school activitiesmay lead to engagement with learning, and canalso be a way in which parents communicatetheir educational values and positive attitudestowards learning to their children.Supporting children’s school learningFor many schools and parents, homework is themost obvious occasion in which parents engagewith their children’s school learning and is themost common way for parents of secondaryschool aged children. Both children and parentscan find parents helping with or ‘enforcing’homework difficult as it can be a source oftension in their relationship and can displaceother family activities including more informallearning opportunities 5 . Parents generallybecome less involved with children’s schoolworkas they get older, only getting involved wherethey perceive a problem and otherwise not‘interfering’ with the teacher’s job 6 .Parents often report that they feel unableto help with children’s school learning orhomework because they do not know enoughabout the curriculum or modern teachingmethods. Parents who use different methods tothose taught in school often find trying to helptheir children learn a frustrating experience,especially where their personal attitudes orcultures place a strong emphasis on parentalauthority and expertise. They can feel humiliatedwhen they perceive themselves as lacking theskills or knowledge that children are beingtaught in school, and parents can feel their ownmethods are inadequate.As well as direct help with school work, parentsalso support children’s school learning throughhelping children make choices about theireducation, through providing encouragementto persevere and giving emotional support tochildren to help them believe they can succeedwith education 7 .Schools can play a role in supporting parentsto engage with their children’s learning inthe home. The ‘Learning at home, learning atschool’ project found that schools working inpartnership with other agencies such as adultand family learning providers were able to helpparents develop their skills to support theirchildren’s learning through joint parent-childactivities within the school, and through givingparents ideas for activities that they were ableto adapt within the home environment. Onecrucial factor for success in helping parentsengage in their children’s learning was theintegration of a parental engagement strategythroughout the whole school – including withinthe formal curriculum 8 .Technologies to help parents supportchildren’s learningLearning platforms, otherwise known as VLEs(Virtual Learning Environments) or MLEs(Managed Learning Environments), can make itpossible for parents to view children’s reports,attendance and assessment scores online.Learning platforms can also allow parents toaccess children’s school work and help withschool activities, and can be used to provideparents with tools to support children’s learning.RESEARCH AND POLICY REVIEW2.2 PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT AND LEARNING IN THE FAMILY24. Harris, A and Goodall, J (2008). Do parents know they matter? Engaging all parents in learning. Educational Research, 50,3: 277289; Harris, A and Goodall, J (2009). Do Parents Know They Matter? Raising Achievement Through Parental Engagement. London:Network Continuum Education.5. Opinion Leader (2009). Time to Talk: Parents as Partners. Deliberative Event Research Report. DCSF Research Report 110.6. Page, A, Das, S, Mangabeira, W and Natale, L (2009). School-Parent Partnerships: Emerging Strategies to Promote Innovation inSchools. Family and Parenting Institute.7. Page, A, Das, S, Mangabeira, W and Natale, L (2009). School-Parent Partnerships: Emerging Strategies to Promote Innovation inSchools. Family and Parenting Institute.8. Day, L, Williams, J and Fox, J (2009). Supporting parents with their children’s ‘at home’ learning and development (Research ReportDCSF-RR138). DCSF.15
Page 1 and 2: www.futurelab.org.ukDeveloping the
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS1. Introduction 042. Resear
Page 5 and 6: Supporting the home-school relation
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Page 9 and 10: INTRODUCTION1.3 WHAT HAVE DIGITAL T
Page 11 and 12: Case studies of eight secondary sch
Page 13 and 14: INTRODUCTION1.5 HOW THIS HANDBOOK W
Page 15: 2.1 POLICY CONTEXTParental engageme
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Page 23 and 24: CHAPTER RESEARCH TITTLE AND POLICY
Page 25 and 26: ‘Hard to reach’ parentsParents
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Page 29 and 30: Digital technologies are used in ve
Page 31 and 32: In one of the few studies to explic
Page 33 and 34: RESEARCH AND POLICY REVIEW2.6 SUMMA
Page 35 and 36: 3.1 DEVELOPING EXPECTATIONSExplicit
Page 37 and 38: Expectations of staffSchools will n
Page 39 and 40: The development and implementation
Page 41 and 42: Case Study 2: Noadswood School, Ham
Page 43 and 44: When parents are unable to engage w
Page 45 and 46: With the growing attention paid to
Page 47 and 48: Case Study 4: Partners in Learning,
Page 49 and 50: Privacy and data securityIf digital
Page 51 and 52: Children themselves may also play a
Page 53 and 54: Case Study 6: Nottingham High Schoo
Page 55 and 56: “I’m writing a book ... I’ve
Page 57 and 58: Parents’ role in supporting child
Page 59 and 60: Case Study 8: Charlton School, Gree
Page 61 and 62: The following overarching key point
Page 63 and 64: There are few available resources t
Page 65 and 66: Ericsson, K and Larsen, G (2002).
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